Working from home tax relief

AndrePearTree

Hi, 
Because of Covid19 I've been working from home since 2 weeks before the lockdown, as we can work from home my company decided that we could do so.
They provided us with a laptop (which we already had before) so we can do so.

My question is what can I use to increase the tax relief I can ask. 
I've used one of the 3 rooms of my house as an office (that's exclusively used as an office, nothing else). 
I have more expenses with Power, Gas to heat the place (not just now but at the beginning), 
I upgraded my broadband aswell so I could make sure that speeds where okay to work.

I can see I can claim up to £6/week without having to provide any proof of expenses, but can I claim for part of my rent as well? My rent is currently £650/month and council tax £112 or so, if I can, is my rent contract enough to proof or do I need to show bank payments (no problem in showing them)? 
Just want to maximise a little bit specially because my wife has been furlough and we saw a decrease on the income during this period. 

 

LilElvis

No, you can't claim a proportion of your rent - you're limited to tax relief on £6/week, though there are arguments as to whether you can even claim this during temporary working from home. If your broadband costs have increased due to work then ask your employer to reimburse you for the additional costs.

bradders1983

Also bear in mind it is tax relief of £6 a week. It doesnt mean an extra £6 a week in your pocket. In most cases it amounts to £1.20pw, hardly worth the bother.

AndrePearTree

@LilElvis
Just asked because in fact I am using this room as only my office place. 
It was supposed to be a temporary situation and that's the reason I haven't claimed anything yet, but last week we had a meeting where we stated that everyone would be working from home at least till the end of the year. 
I understand that I am already saving some money in fuel to commute (circa £10/week), but in fact my power and gas bill went up in average £20/month since we started. 
 Broadband went up by £5/month, 

This means that it will be deducted from my tax the equivalent of £6/week in the maximum for the time I am working from home? 

i.e,
So far I am on the 16th week, working from home, this means a tax relief of £96? 

Jeremy535897

The £6 a week claim is what you can claim if you have to work from home and you don't want to produce any invoices or other proof. It is not the only option.

Anything else must meet the "wholly, exclusively and necessarily" test. Enhancing your broadband will not meet that test. Nor will rent. Extra gas and electricity, and the cost of business telephone calls, may do so, but whether the excess you could claim over £6 a week is worth working it out for and keeping the records depends on the figures. See https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home

LilElvis

AndrePearTree said:

@LilElvis
Just asked because in fact I am using this room as only my office place. 
It was supposed to be a temporary situation and that's the reason I haven't claimed anything yet, but last week we had a meeting where we stated that everyone would be working from home at least till the end of the year. 
I understand that I am already saving some money in fuel to commute (circa £10/week), but in fact my power and gas bill went up in average £20/month since we started. 
 Broadband went up by £5/month, 

This means that it will be deducted from my tax the equivalent of £6/week in the maximum for the time I am working from home? 

i.e,
So far I am on the 16th week, working from home, this means a tax relief of £96? 

It's tax relief on £6/week so 16 weeks for a basic rate tax payer is 16 x £6 x 20% = £19.20

Make sure you're on the best tariff available for your heating to cut your bills.

LilElvis

AndrePearTree said:

@LilElvis
Just asked because in fact I am using this room as only my office place. 
It was supposed to be a temporary situation and that's the reason I haven't claimed anything yet, but last week we had a meeting where we stated that everyone would be working from home at least till the end of the year. 
I understand that I am already saving some money in fuel to commute (circa £10/week), but in fact my power and gas bill went up in average £20/month since we started. 
 Broadband went up by £5/month, 

This means that it will be deducted from my tax the equivalent of £6/week in the maximum for the time I am working from home? 

i.e,
So far I am on the 16th week, working from home, this means a tax relief of £96? 

Just noticed this part of your post.

Savings on commute = £40+ per month
Increased costs = £25 per month
Therefore you're saving over £15 per month by working from home!

Grumpy_chap

AndrePearTree said:

I understand that I am already saving some money in fuel to commute (circa £10/week), but in fact my power and gas bill went up in average £20/month since we started. 
 Broadband went up by £5/month, 

The tax relief for working from home is all that can be claimed, £6 per week allowance means £1.20/week (basic rate) of £2.40 per week (higher rate).  It is not dependent on actual costs or savings in commuting.  At this time, it is not sensible to ask the employer to pay the full allowance.

An increase in power and gas of £20 per month, especially over the period starting mid-March, is exceptionally high.  You will have used barely anything in heating or lighting during the work day.  Where has the extra energy consumption gone?  Is this truly the impact of working from home, or did you just happen to get the bill and meter readings and monthly cost changed to recover past under payments?

Broadband increase of £5 per month - is that you get to an unlimited tariff? 

Could possibly shop around on both broadband and energy to get the best deal.

AndrePearTree

Grumpy_chap said:

AndrePearTree said:

I understand that I am already saving some money in fuel to commute (circa £10/week), but in fact my power and gas bill went up in average £20/month since we started. 
 Broadband went up by £5/month, 

The tax relief for working from home is all that can be claimed, £6 per week allowance means £1.20/week (basic rate) of £2.40 per week (higher rate).  It is not dependent on actual costs or savings in commuting.  At this time, it is not sensible to ask the employer to pay the full allowance.

An increase in power and gas of £20 per month, especially over the period starting mid-March, is exceptionally high.  You will have used barely anything in heating or lighting during the work day.  Where has the extra energy consumption gone?  Is this truly the impact of working from home, or did you just happen to get the bill and meter readings and monthly cost changed to recover past under payments?

Broadband increase of £5 per month - is that you get to an unlimited tariff? 

Could possibly shop around on both broadband and energy to get the best deal.

Hey,
Thank you all for all the information and answers to my question. 
I have smart meter and I pay monthly to control my bills and reach the quarter with a balance of £0, so every month I go to my smart meter and I do any additional payment is required to meet this condition, I believe the cost is basically because as a family we spend much more time at home and while working I have 2 PC on at all time. 

I am not trying to get advantage of the system, just trying to go though this with less damage as possible as anybody else, my wife has been furlough and she is expecting to go back to work on 15 Aug but we are not sure if she will start in full time or if just a few days a week. 
She has been getting 80% of her normal wage, which means we seen the total family income lower by close to £200, this was not an issue at the beginning but we are now going through any savings we had to keep all bills paid. 

I will have a look and see where I can do some savings on our bills. 

Again thanks for your answers and advice.

Caz3121

this is a UK forum. The IRS is not relevant

unholyangel

Jeremy535897 said:

The £6 a week claim is what you can claim if you have to work from home and you don't want to produce any invoices or other proof. It is not the only option.

Anything else must meet the "wholly, exclusively and necessarily" test. Enhancing your broadband will not meet that test. Nor will rent. Extra gas and electricity, and the cost of business telephone calls, may do so, but whether the excess you could claim over £6 a week is worth working it out for and keeping the records depends on the figures. See https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home

The £6pw still needs to be W+E+N. You just don't need to keep records to justify the figure. 

Are you perhaps getting confused with the rules for employers reimbursing extra expense/paying the £6 per week? The test for that is more forgiving and payments can be made for voluntary/informal homeworking arrangements (while claiming relief from HMRC wouldn't be permitted).